


One Last Dance

by LeeMorrigan



Series: Red Head in a Red Shirt [2]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Memories, OFC - Freeform, Red Shirt, Romance, Shore Leave, burying the past, ex-wives, old southern doctor, red head - Freeform, retirement party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-13 17:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18473647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeeMorrigan/pseuds/LeeMorrigan
Summary: When McCoy gets invited to a retirement party for his mentor, he has to attend, even if it means his ex will be there. He brings his long-term girlfriend, has one last dance with his ex, and has an important conversation with his mentor and his mentor's husband.





	One Last Dance

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own STAR TREK, or Pike would still be alive and chillin' with Kirk, Bones, and Spock.  
> I could not recall Bones's ex-wife's name so I did some digging on the internet and found a comic book where she is referred to as Pamela, so I went with that.
> 
> Triggers: None that I noticed, unless you have issues with thunder storms.

Leonard stared at his reflection in the mirror once more. He did not like it. Not one bit. He was dressed in a very sharp looking black suit, black bow tie that was slightly askew, crisp white shirt, gold cufflinks that had belonged to his great-grandfather, and not only was he clean shaven enough to almost look like he had waxed his face, but he had also gotten a haircut the day before he beamed down so he could slick his hair perfectly into place. Hardly how he planned to spend any of his shoreleave.

Leonard’s former mentor and dear friend, Dr.Angus MacGregor, was retiring. And as with any such esteemed professional who had worked so many decades at a prestigious university, they were throwing a huge party to celebrate his life, to say goodbye, and to give him a damn award he would have to give a speech about. Angus was a terribly shy man and hated the spotlight. The man had been making his husband go accept his awards and such for him, for decades. Leonard had considered it a major triumph when Angus showed up to Leonard’s graduation and again to give a personal interview as to how well he thought Leonard would do in Starfleet.

Worse, Pamela would be there. Angus had been her great-uncle and she was to be her grandfather’s date to his big-brother’s retirement party. Even if Bones had been inclined to duck out of the party to avoid his ex-wife, he could not after he was informed by Angus that Angus expected to see his old protégé and catch up on how Stafleet was treating Leonard. Angus thought it the height of hilarity that the country bumpkin of a doctor had joined the most advanced, high-tech space medicine machine. He also was greatly amused at how Leonard’s friends were a logical half-Vulcan, an injury-prone Captain, a former head nurse turned excellent doctor, and a fiery Chief Security Officer.

No matter how badly he wished to avoid Pamela, Leonard couldn’t disappoint Angus. And, considering Angus’s age and his health of late, Leonard wasn’t entirely sure his old friend would still be around at the end of the latest 5-year mission Jim had talked him into. He was barely a year into the latest hitch. So Leonard moved to adjust his tie, again.

“Len?”

He jumped. With his mind so busy, he had forgotten he was not alone in the room. Turning, he saw Rafe coming out of the bathroom, her hands wrapped around her jewelry and wearing the most amazing black and lilac dress. It hugged all the right places to make Leonard forget his own name.

“Len?”

“Hm. Yeah. Sorry. What’s wrong?”

She grinned and he was aware he had been caught.

“I wanted to know if you knew where the box with my shoes went. I can’t find it.”

“U, it was under the box with mine so I put it on the bed.”

She nodded, moving over to the bed to pull out the pair of simple black pumps. She only owned one pair of dress shoes and she wore them to every event from the Christmas party Jim and Uhura put together a couple months ago on the ship, to the shindig they attended on Delta five dash something, a few weeks into her first tour on the Enterprise.

“Once I get these on, I’m fixing that tie.”

He smiled, then stepped over and offered his arm for her to balance herself as she slid her second shoe on. She gave him a smile of thanks.

“Need help with any of the jewelry?”

“Nah, I’ve got it.”

She reached, adjusting his tie and smoothing it with the pad of one thumb before retrieving her jewelry from where she laid it to get her shoes. Earrings of black pearl set in white-silver with an art deco pattern, a matching necklace, and her usual assortment of rings traded in for one simple black pearl art deco ring on her right middle finger. Leonard noticed that her earrings were clip-on.

“I didn’t realize they made those anymore.”

“Hard to find, but they still make ‘em. So, ready for this Doc?”

“No.”

She shot him a grin.

“Good. Keep you on your toes.”

He growled which only made her chuckle under her breath as she reached to take his hand and tug him along behind her, through their hotel room and out through the hotel to the parking area. They got a ride and were at the Hopewell University Hall in a matter of minutes, arriving just in time to see Pamela and her grandfather, Craig MacGregor, as they arrived.

Rafe leaned closed, whispering to Leonard.

“That her?”

“Yeah.”

“She’s quite pretty.”

Leonard turned his head to give her quizzical look. She looked back, seemingly confused by his reaction as she shrugged.

“What? She is. I’m not gonna lie.”

He shook his head.

“Wasn’t the reaction I was expecting.”

Rafe lifted one should and made an unimpressed face.

“Jim told you not to predict me.”

That got a small chuckle. Then it hit him. She had made her comment on purpose. It threw him and made him stop obsessing over his ex for a few seconds. Leaning, he made like he was going to kiss behind her ear but spoke quietly instead.

“Well played, Lt.Grainne.”

A smirk was her answer as they came up, two couples behind Pamela and Craig, leading up into the hall where the chivaree was already getting underway.

~*~*~*~   ~*~*~*~   ~*~*~*~

Leonard stood to one side of the room, holding a warm flute of champagne as he watched Rafe dancing with Angus’s husband, Robert. Robert was slightly taller than Leonard and built like a twig, but the man could have put Fred Astaire to shame even at his age. They were having a ball and Leonard was enjoying the show while letting the wall take some of the pressure off his back. Thanks to a recent field mission with Jim and Chekov, he was still sporting a couple bruised ribs and a healing shoulder. Rafe had not faired much better on that mission, yet you would never know it watching her dancing.

“Hey stranger.”

Pamela. In her favorite red dress that clung to her ample bosom and showed off a light tan, long legs, and set off against her brown hair. She looked beautiful.

“Hey yourself.”

He tried to sound polite and not biting. He wasn’t sure how successful he was, given the slight cringe in her forced smile as she stepped closer, her own flute nearly empty.

“I half-expected you to duck me.”

“Well, after our settlement, I could hardly let you have Angus too.”

She made a face and he Leonard let out a breath.

“That was harsh. I’m sorry.”

“No, no. I deserved it, Lee. I was angry and I let my lawyer take it out for me.”

“I got that impression, as well.”

The song shifted and Leonard wanted to scream. Or growl. Possibly punch the DJ. Pamela just laughed.

“Our wedding song.”

“It was a popular hit that year.”

“Yeah, now it’s some kind of throwback favorite.”

Leonard nodded, grimacing as he did. Now he felt old on top of everything else.

“Come on, let’s dance.”

She set aside her drink on the window ledge and reached for Leonard’s.

“It is our song, after all.”

Leonard glanced over to Rafe, finding that she was still dancing with Robert and she shot him a small smile. He could tell she wasn’t jealous or worried, only making sure he was alright. He sighed and put his flute aside.

“Sure. One dance.”

Walking out to the floor beside Pamela, he thought about their wedding day. She had been the picture of perfection in a blindingly white gown that sparkled in the light, a huge veil that had been her grandmother’s, her dark hair pinned up with artful curls draping here and there to frame her face beautifully in all the holos, her makeup done just right to highlight her angular features, and her new gold band shining brightly on her ring finger just below the modest diamond ring.

As Pamela and he swayed on the Hall’s antique wood floor, Leonard thought about the hard concrete floor at the hall where they had their reception. It had been a particularly humid summer and the old warehouse they had converted to a hall, was the only place that would not have turned into a total swamp that July. So that had been their agreed upon site.

“Remember how I kept stepping on your toes the week before, when our wedding planner insisted on us taking one lesson?”

“Yeah,” Leonard recalled, “she was so angry when she realized neither of us had ever really danced before.”

“We were hopeless.”

Leonard chuckled.

“Those were good days.”, Pamela muttered, almost to herself.

“They were.”, he concurred.

They swayed a bit to the tune, most of the people dancing around them clearly being couples. Leonard watched the others, taking in their goofy grins and the little whispered conversations. All the sweet little things couples took for granted.

“Lee?”

“Hm?”

“Where did it go wrong? Was it just the hours? The differences in life-projections?”

“I thought it was the buff 20-year-old who was repainting your office?”

 Pamela shot him a heated look, her lips pressed in a thin line.

“I don’t think it was Nick. He was a symptom.”

“No, he was a painter and I was your husband. Don’t you ever think I was tempted? DIdn’t you ever think how many attractive nurses, doctors, aids, patients, and clerks I saw on a daily basis? And I never once made a move, did not invite their attention, did not sneak into a back room with them, did not bring them back to our apartment to have sex in our bed.”

Pamela let out a long breath, looking over at a couple who were dancing, nuzzling each other gently, the taller woman reaching to rub her hand over the shorter woman’s protruding belly. Leonard would guess she was at least 7 months along, looking happy despite how tired her posture gave her away for. It was something he was sure only pregnant women could pull off.

“Well you weren’t exactly offering your time or energy to me either, Lee. Sure, you came home and slept in the bed beside me, but can you remember when the last time we’d had sex was before you came home to find me with Nick?”

“Your birthday. I took you out to dinner and took the next day off, so I could spend it with you. I don’t think we left the bedroom till lunch time, and we got back to it quickly enough to miss dinner reservations.”

She nodded.

“Then nothing for the next 8 months.”

“I was finishing my residency, I had some extra moonlighting work to help earn the money for our house, and I had just buried my father a couple weeks after your birthday. Meanwhile, you were globe-trotting and half the time I came home to an empty apartment and a note telling me you wouldn’t be back for two weeks cause you had an assignment in Tibet or something.”

“Oh, so I should have waited around for you and been okay with the lack of affection?”

“No, I’m saying that… we weren’t ready and we weren’t a good match. I’m too set in my ways and too cantankerous for you and you’re too flighty and too inconsistent for me. We’re both imperfect, and together we were a disaster with the occasional bright spot.”

“We were young.”

“Well, there is that.”

“No, I mean we were young. We didn’t get that I wanted to be swept off my feet, I wanted to be rescued, I wanted you to be my own personal knight in shining armor, and you wanted someone who was your fellow old man. You didn’t want somebody with her head in the clouds and her fantasies focused on you.”

“I couldn’t be your knight in shining armor, not who I am Pamela. I’m not cut out for that white charger.”

She nodded.

“No, you’re not. You are a good man though, Lee. Don’t let anyone tell you different.”

“I’m sorry, Pamela.”

“So am I. I wasn’t happy and instead of being a grown up, I threw tantrums, avoided you, cheated on you, and blamed you. I threw actual tantrums then got upset when you didn’t melt at the sight of me and worship the ground I walked on.”

“My mother tried to warn me.”

She let out a somewhat bitter laugh.

“Craig and Angus tried to warn me. Craig said I wasn’t grown up enough to be marrying anyone, let alone and old romantic like you. Angus said I’d wreck you, cause you were the kind who loved hard and loved with all you had and I was the type who loved brightly and briefly.”

“Never knew Angus had an opinion on it.”

“He did. And he wasn’t quiet about it. You were more than his protégé, you were his surrogate grandson he and Robert never got to have.”

Leonard let that sink in. Then he wondered how Angus had gotten through he and Pamela’s wedding service and the party after. He must have felt as if he were watching everyone get aboard a ship he knew would crash.

The song shifted to a faster one and Pamela got an excited look. Leonard backed away, holding his hands up in the universal DON’T SHOOT pose.

“Sorry, I wasn’t made for boogying to this kind of beat.”

Pamela nodded, also taking a step back from Leonard.

“I know.”

She sighed.

“I’m sorry, Lee. I knew I’d break your heart and I should have had the sense to let you go before I did so much damage… but I couldn’t accept that you were the one man I’d never be able to have wrapped around my pinky finger.”

Leonard let out a sigh.

“I was mad about you, but you’re right. You never quite had me wrapped up like that.”

“No. I didn’t really dictate your life to you till we go divorced.”

“Well, alls well that ends well. I ended up in Starfleet and… I’m happy there. I have friends who would move mountains for me, I have a crew who all look to me to keep them healthy enough to pursue their dream, and I have Raphaelle.”

Pamela nodded, smiling slightly.

“I’m glad for you, Lee. You deserve it all and more.”

Stepping close, she leaned up and pressed a light kiss to his cheek. She then stepped back, putting a professional level of space between them.

“Thank you for the dance, Dr.McCoy.”

“You’re welcome, Prof.Andrews.”

With that, she stepped away and Leonard watched for a moment. Sometimes he got so angry thinking about her, other times he was simply sad. At the moment, he felt something like pity. Pamela had always been the most beautiful girl in the room, always able to use her looks and her charm to get everything she wanted. Now she was twice divorced, and she had recently been demoted at work due to an issue of her making a scene at a Christmas party between she and an ex-boyfriend on the faculty. And now she was being faced with some harsh truths about their failed relationship.

Leonard felt a warm hand on his lower arm and smiled. Citrus and kiwi. It gave her away to him every time. He turned, offering a gentle smile.

“Wanna get some air?”

He nodded and let her tug him gently out to a small balcony, her free hand snatching some champagne glasses for them off the kiddie tray. Even off-duty the woman was making sure she kept her wits about her. She probably thought he could stand to steer clear of the booze, with his ex-wife in the room.

The sky was clear with stars like balls of glitter and a mist beginning to creep into the hills on the horizon. Leonard could smell a storm in the air. Rafe lifted her nose into the air, taking a breath in and smiling.

“It’ll be raining soon.”

Leonard nodded.

“Probably get a storm.”

Rafe nodded.

“I’d rather just rain, but I’ll take a storm as long as I don’t have to be out in it.”

On that, he could not disagree.

“You worried about me, Lt.Grainne?”

“On the contrary, Dr.McCoy. I’m more worried about that poor woman who danced a slow dance with the devilishly handsome man in the tailored suit. “

“Oh really?”

“In case you passed the mirror without looking, you’re a real heartbreaker in that suit.”

“You don’t exactly look like a groundhog in a sackcloth there yourself, Lieutenant.”

She grinned.

“My sister sent it when I told her about the event tonight. She’d never let me look that bad.”

“You have a very good sister. I look forward to meeting her one day, so I can thank her for this dress.”

“Pardon?”

“I’ve been enjoying it from afar, all evening.”

“Scandalous.”

“Sexy, actually. We’re an item, so not really a scandal there.”

She nodded with a light laugh.

“Once I’ve gotten a chance to say goodbye to Angus, before he and Robert slip out of here, want to head back to the hotel?”

“Sure.”

“Well, I think I’ll go talk to him a bit then. I can already see he’s trying to talk Robert into letting him slip out before they get to the speeches.”

Rafe waved him off and sipped her glass of white grape juice. Leonard made his way over to Angus and Robert’s little table where the two men each had a tumbler they were drinking from. Angus had real whiskey, but from experience Leonard knew that Robert had tea in his glass. Robert had come from a long line of alcoholics who died as a direct result of their drinking, so he artfully avoided it and the subject of his drinking by having non-alcoholic beverages that looked like the real thing.

Angus greeted Leonard with a hearty hug, clapping a meaty hand across Leonard’s back. Once Angus released him, Robert gave him a less enthusiastic but no less warm a greeting, inviting him to join their table.

“I saw you were dancing with Pamela.”, Angus started.

“She asked when our song came on.  Figured it would give us a chance to talk privately one last time, say whatever we had to say, and be done. Seems to have worked. But enough of that, how are you enjoying retirement so far?”

Robert answered first.

“He’s been a giant bother. I don’t think he’s let his replacement have a moment’s peace.”

Angus growled, pointing directly at his beloved husband.

“Now see here, he is convinced he can teach these kids how to do our work with a bunch of tests and instruments and fancy gadgets, and doesn’t think you’ve got to lay a hand on a patient. He barely thinks ya need lay an eye on ‘em, to diagnose and cure ‘em. He’s mad.”

Robert rolled his eyes with a smile, mock-exasperation showing.

“You see what we put up with here, Leo.”

“I do.”

“Of course,” Robert added, “you’re no better. The both of you would be content to practice medicine from a buggy, running your horse from house to house, taking a little black bag of instruments and medicines.”

Leonard smiled, leaning back with his drink in hand.

“That sounds beautiful. Where do I sign up for that?”

Angus pointed, “You’re taking me with you, if you do, my boy.”

“Of course.”

Robert shook his head, “The pair of you. No wonder you’ve always gotten on so well, you’re just alike.”

The three laughed, continuing to talk for a while longer until Angus was clearly wearing out, yawning more than he spoke. Robert gathered his husband up and they said their goodbyes as Leonard caught Rafe’s eye and she joined their march out the doors so Leonard could help get Angus into Robert’s car since Angus was both tired and a bit drunk. Rafe got the door open for them and was quick to grab a sweater off the passenger seat to lay under Angus’s head in the back seat as Robert worked to get him buckled in and Leonard helped get Angus’s feet in.

“Thank you, both of you. This didn’t used to be such a prodRapuction forty years ago.”

Leonard waved it off.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Leonard, I know you’ve had to have thought on it, but he’s got enough time left in him. He’ll be here when you finish this hitch. And when you do, you’re coming here to spend a few days with us. You hear me?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. I’d hate to drag your lady into this and make her hogtie and drag you.”

Raphaelle proudly smiled.

“You know I’d do it.”

Leonard pointed at her while shooting her a Look.

“Behave.”

“Can’t. Against my programming.”

Robert pointed to her head and whispered, “Red head.”

He was right.

“True, poor creature can’t help but misbehave.”

“Keep it up, Horatio, and you’ll be the Poor Creature ‘round here.”

She then held out a hand to shake Robert’s.

“It was a pleasure to meet you, both of you. And when this mission is over, I will personally cajole, threaten, or trick this one into coming to see you for a bit.”

Robert leaned in to offer a quick hug and then let Rafe go. She smiled to Leonard, then headed over to their rental, leaving Leonard to his goodbyes. He and Robert hugged.

“Write when you can, Leo.”

“I will. And you look after Angus.”

“Of course. Look after yourself, Leo, and do your best to keep hold of that Raphaelle. She’s good for you.”

“Thank you.”

Robert stepped back, smiling as he got into his car. Once he had pulled off, Leonard turned and walked over to where Rafe was waiting in the car. She had the radio on and was sitting back with her eyes closed, humming to the tune about meeting old lovers.

“Come on, darlin’. Lets go home.”

~*~*~*~   ~*~*~*~   ~*~*~*~

She offered him a warm look as he crawled in and buckled up to let her drive them back. Halfway to the hotel, the rain began pouring down, a distant rumble of thunder occasionally felt even in their hover car. Rafe slid into their designated slot, then shot him a grin before she got out and made a dash for the front door of the hotel. Leonard let out a sigh and then ran after her, not fully understanding why she hadn’t just waited for a doorman to come with the huge umbrellas they had that were almost like a small party tent. When he breached the doors however, Leonard had a new tune. There Raphaelle stood, her dress wet, her hair having tendrils dripping onto her exposed shoulders, rosey cheeks as she smiled at him, a spark of mischief in her eyes she wiped some of the water off her face.

Leonard took her hand and lead her down the hall to their room and once inside, he had no intentions of keeping his hands off of her. From the way her one hand was in his hair and the other moving to undo his tie, he got the impression that Raphaelle really did not mind his new plan for the evening. Just as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss, a large crack of thunder rattled the entire hotel and the room went blinding as a flash of lighting broke the sky at the same instant the thunder clapped, causing Raphaelle to jump and let out a small noise.

“Raphaelle?”

She looked around wildly for a second, then seemed to remember herself and got a sheepish look.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”, Leonard whispered as he pulled her to his wet chest, feeling her warmth seeping into his very marrow. His arms wrapped around her and hers came up to cross over his back. They stayed like that for a long moment as the storm raged outside.

“Shower?”

“Alright.”

“Can’t hear the thunder in there.”

“Good point.”

“We used to get real bad storms where I grew up and… I nearly got crushed one summer during a storm. Kind’ve lingers with me.”

“No wonder Jim and Uhura have both talked about how much you hate storms when you’re planet-side.”

“Yeah.”

Rafe looked up at him a bit embarrassed. The tough chief security officer and she was admitting to being scared to death of storms.

“Sorry I ruined the mood there.”

Leonard leaned to kiss the corner of her mouth, his hand sliding down from her shoulder to hold her pale hand in his.

“Didn’t ruin a thing, darlin’.”

The rain beat against the glass of the large picture window and the whole building seemed to rattle with the thunder. Leonard moved to unzip the back of Raphaelle’s dress as he kissed the juncture of her neck.

“We better get you out of these wet clothes.”

“Yeah, you too, before you catch a chill.”

“Wanna borrow my flannel shirt?”

She smiled up at him, pressing a kiss to his lips.

“Thanks.”

“I know you love it. I’ll leave it to you in my will.”

“Or you could just keep wearing it, I’ll keep stealing it, repeat.”

He nodded, then moved to let her lean on him as she moved to pull off her heels and then stood as she undid his tie so he didn’t end up strangling himself as he attempted to untie the fancy noose. Within minutes, both of them had shed the wet clothes and left them to dry, changing into dry things to sleep in. Sure enough, she got his flannel shirt to wear over a pair of her skin tight pants that came to just below her knees, her faded shirt with her old high school mascot on beneath his shirt to help keep her warm, and her damp hair in a loose braid over one shoulder. Leonard opted for sweatpants and a matching faded Starfleet Medical Academy sweatershirt.

Leonard had no sooner gotten into the bed than Raphaelle was curled into his side, smiling as she pulled the blankets up over them both. She looked so lovely, her dark red hair seemingly redder than usual against the white of the bed sheets, her dark eyes focused on his face, a soft look on her beautiful face, and her arm draped over his middle. Leonard smiled at her, reaching to move a stray strand of hair away from her eyes.

“Thank you for coming with me.”

“Thank you for inviting me. Robert is a wonderful dancer.”

“Next time, I’ll dance more with you.”

“I’m not Pamela, Len. I am not going to slip away because I don’t think you spend enough time with me.”

“I know, I just… I want to share all that with you. Dancing at retirement parties, coming home with you after every social event, coming back to you, sharing a closet with you, falling asleep with my head on your lap, all of it.”

She looked up at him with her dark eyes he loved so much.

“A pretty boring thing to want, I know.”

“No, not at all. Len, our lives are full of excitement, danger, noise, explosions, vibrant wonders. It isn’t bad, wrong, or boring to want the simpler things. To look forward to quiet moments of contentment with someone. It’s a rare and wonderful thing to have, and people ought to want it.”

“What do you want?”

“You.”

“Simple as that?”

“Yup. Simple as that.”

Rafe slid forward in the bed to kiss Leonard, long and slow. When they pulled apart, Leonard moved his arm to wrap around her as she placed her forehead against the center of his chest. He rubbed his hand up and down her back a few times, slowing further and further until he drifted off, thinking about how he would properly propose to Raphaelle Grainne, and soon. He would not let the past hold him back any longer. Robert and Angus were right, you had to seize upon what made you happy and to cherish those you treasured.

Leonard smiled in his slumber. He truly couldn't wait to marry this woman in his arms. Jim had already told him that whenever he got around to doing it, that Jim was ready to officiate and that Chapel had already offered to help Leonard pick out rings. When Leonard had tried to cite the rules about married couples serving together, Jim had blown a raspberry and waved Leonard's concerns off. "I'm the captain, I make the rules.", had been his exact words. Leonard knew his friend meant it, and that Jim was just happy to see his friend happy, after so long with Leonard being the third wheel to Jim and Gillian, or a fifth wheel to Spock with Uhura and Jim with Gillian.

Now, Leonard had found someone he could be his old, crusty, curmudgeon self with, and with whom he could break around. He did not have to be strong with her all the time and she did not have to be brave with him all the time. They could kid and joke, making each other smile even on bad days, and they took care of each other. They had each found a partner. And Leonard was excited to see the adventure their partnership would be in the years to come. So he dreamed of those adventures, the first fights, the growing pains, the boring evenings in, the dancing at retirement parties and wedding receptions, the midnight meals shared, and the conversations about everything and nothing. It wasn't the life he had planned, but it was the life he wouldn't trade for anything.


End file.
